


A Song

by sonshineandshowers



Series: Martin's Murder Playlist [3]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Brightwell, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Romance, happy cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23446861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonshineandshowers/pseuds/sonshineandshowers
Summary: Dani and Malcolm are late working on a case, and she takes him home. Established Brightwell.Martin's Murder Playlist Series: I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Series: Martin's Murder Playlist [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685980
Kudos: 34





	A Song

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/577021) by Jim Croce (performed by). 



It was after nine when they made it out of the field and into the precinct. On its way to ten when Dani emerged from Gil's office. "C'mon, let's get you home,” she said, giving Malcolm a small smile.

She guided him toward the door, but he didn't speak until they were outside of it. "It's late — you don't have to — "

"I want to," she assured, and they continued to her car.

She held his hand on the center console throughout the drive to his place, running her thumb over his knuckles. They sat in the silence of exhaustion and stress, keeping their words smoldering inside instead of adding them to the air.

Letting them into his loft, he didn’t know where to go. The refrigerator called him to make them food, but his appetite was somewhere with the woman they hadn’t been able to save from a serial stabber. The couch beckoned to make her comfortable, but he couldn’t sit still pretending to watch a movie when the bloody scene kept repeating in his head. Sunshine was already sleeping, so he couldn’t refresh her cage and talk to her — it wouldn’t be fair to wake her for his benefit.

“It doesn’t need to be whatever you had planned before…” Dani indicated and trailed off when his lips dipped into a frown.

He didn't go to prep the ingredients he studiously had waiting on a shelf in the refrigerator. Didn’t ask her to pick one of her favorite movies and pull her feet onto his lap to massage the day out of them. Didn’t coax Sunshine onto her wrist so she could giggle and tell him she tickled.

He walked to the kitchen, poured two glasses of water, squeezed a bit of prepared lemon juice into hers, and sunk into a stool at the counter.

“Cheers,” she tipped her glass to clink his, getting a hint of a smile out of him.

She sat beside him, angled into his side instead of the counter, her hand resting on his thigh.

“They had fresh asparagus and the fine mushrooms you have to go find in the woods,” Malcolm spoke of the previous day’s grocery store purchases he had cached in the fridge.

“They’ll make a nice add to breakfast. Or if you want, whatever dinner you planned another day.”

“Risotto.”

“I can make you something else — “

“It’s okay.” She rubbed his thigh with her thumb. If he felt up to it, he would have been cooking it already. If she ended up wanting food, she’d make it herself.

Her wide, empathetic eyes looked into his, her lips pursed in thought. “Do you want to — “

“No.” He shook his head and got up, walking over to the stereo.

She followed him. “I’ll take the jacket,” she indicated. Her hands paused at the top of his neck, waiting for movement to signal that her statement was okay. His shoulders dipped as his arms fell behind him, and she slipped it off.

Soft acoustic guitar drifted through the speakers, lightened by the brighter notes of the second guitar that joined in. He undid the buttons on his cuffs and meticulously rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. When she walked back toward him, he slid an arm around her hip and clasped her hand in his near their shoulders, sweeping her into a dance before she could ask anything else.

_Well, I know it’s kind of late_

She smirked at him, getting a glimpse into what he had planned for their evening.

_But what I’ve got to say can’t wait, I know you’d understand_

He reached up to brush a few curls back from her face, untangling one from her crimson studs. So soft with her. Always.

_Every time I tried to tell you the words just came out wrong_

He caressed the space he’d cleared and stretched to kiss her forehead.

_So I’ll have to say I love you in a song_

She caught him on the way down, kissing him back on the lips. Content to absorb the music and rock the slow glide of a recliner rather than consciously dance around the loft, she pulled his head into her chest, resting his ear against her heart. She smoothed the downy hairs near his ear and rubbed his back.

_I know it’s kind of strange_

Lean left. Lean right. Left. Right. Her weight shifted between her feet to the lulling beat. Her fingers trailed to the nape of his neck, plucking along with the strings.

_Every time I’m near you, I just run out of things to say_

His breath was warm against her chest, sneaking through the layers of dress shirt and camisole, melting her into a puddle. They bathed in it, soaking in the comfort of closeness.

_I know you’d understand_

She did. She understood him better than nearly anyone, save Gil. And even she gave him a run for his money sometimes, telling him she’d take their boy home when he’d wanted to look after him. In the confines of his office, she’d shared that had been the plan all along before their day devolved into an unfurling disaster. He’d told her, “Take care of each other.”

_Every time I tried to tell you the words just came out wrong_

His arms squeezed tight around her back, abandoning any semblance of going back into a structured dance hold.

_So I’ll have to say I love you in a song_

The instrumental break didn’t have him leading her around the room, grinning wildly at each other while he kept perking his eyebrows to tease that he’d send her on a spin, only to spin her without telegraphing. Didn’t have them sharing love-filled kisses, abandoning the music to tip onto whatever surface they reached first. Didn’t have words echoing the _I love you_ through the expanse of the apartment.

There was never a right time. And there were never enough words to convey what she meant to him.

They held each other, swaying left and right through the rest of the song, the last level note disappearing into silence as the playlist of one completed.

Malcolm lifted his head, tears in his eyes, and Dani softly kissed him. Her lips pulled back and her thumb brushed his cheek above his beard. His gaze drifted over her shoulder, giving himself a moment to figure out where they went from there.

“Daaaniiiii,” crept from the corner of the room, the lascivious overly voweled syllables making his blood crawl.

Malcolm sheltered her against his chest, his hand covering her head.

“No. No — no.” He backed away slowly, trying to protect her.

“Such a _lovely_ lady,” lust dripped off Dr. Whitly’s tongue.

“No.” Malcolm turned away, trying to hide every bit of her from him. But Dr. Whitly crossed the void, appearing behind Dani.

“You think I’m in the rational part of your brain? I taught you better,” Dr. Whitly said plainly like facts from a textbook. " _Reason_. _Emotion_. By the way, your dad’s a serial killer."

A steak knife glinted in the light and slashed across Dani’s back.

“No!” She went limp in his arms.

She dropped through the floor, only a mirrored pool of blood left behind.

“ _Nooo!_ ” Eyes frantically bouncing through every corner of the loft, he couldn’t find her anywhere.

“Bright.”

“No — no.”

“ _Bright_ ,” she said more firmly, trying to pull him back to her.

Malcolm’s eyes opened to Dani standing at the end of the bed, leaning in toward him. He spit out his mouthguard and tried to tamp his heaving breaths.

“Awake?” she asked.

He nodded, and she walked around the bed, sitting beside him. She undid one of his cuffs, and he stretched his arm across to get the other. She pulled him into her chest, and he wrapped his arms behind her back, squeezing her tight.

“I love you,” reached her ears, his breath warming her insides through her t-shirt.

She kissed the top of his head.

“I love you,” he repeated, stronger, his voice vibrating through her whole body.

“I love you,” she returned the phrase she’d shared dozens of times, tears clouding her vision.

He pulled back, and they both had silent tears meandering down their faces. “That’s what I wanted to tell you last night. Before — “ he waved his hand off to the side, not bothering with the rest.

She smiled at him and kissed him.

“I’m kind of a mess — “ He looked away.

“You’re not,” she disagreed and brought his attention back to her with her thumb and forefinger on his chin. “I heard someone has some nice, fresh ingredients in his fridge. Omelets?”

He gave a small nod.

“Shower,” she guided, kissing his forehead and slipping away to the kitchen.

She scrambled the eggs, cooked them, and dropped in random bits of fixings, just the way they liked it.

* * *

_fin_


End file.
